“What… do I do…”
Every single one of the ten ancient demon beasts were existences that all humans in the Forgotten Continent feared and could not stand up against. The Mysterious God grade was only one grade away from the highest Saint Destroyer grade. Ling Chen had almost been crushed just by the War Demon Beast’s pressure, and this Shadow Demon Beast in front of him was even stronger than the War Demon Beast.
At the Lonely Spirit Ridge, Xi Ling had made a terrible sacrifice in order to save him and destroy the War Demon Beast. However, Xi Ling definitely could not even come out right now, much less fight. Right now he was in the Shadow Demon Beast’s territory. There was nothing that would come to save him… being killed by the Shadow Demon Beast was something he could accept. After all, he didn’t even stand half a chance against a monster of the Mysterious God grade. However, the situation he was facing right now was even worse than death.
“I have already activated the spiritual mark Tao Tie left on you [TLN: See Chapter 47 if you don’t remember]. This way, it should be able to sense that you are in danger. However… this entire area is controlled by the Shadow Demon Beast. The signal might not be able to be transferred out to Tao Tie… plus, even if he does receive the signal, because of all the demonic energy here, it would be hard for him to find us quickly… but this is the only option we have. Otherwise, we’re completely finished.”
Back then, when Tao Tie had entrusted them with Xiao Hui, it had left a spiritual mark on him. If Ling Chen was ever in danger, if he activated the spiritual mark, Tao Tie would be able to sense it and come to his aid. Indeed, this was his last hope.
“Will Tao Tie be able to defeat the Shadow Demon Beast?”
“Since they’re both Mysterious God grade, it’ll be hard for one to defeat the other. Although Tao Tie is able to defeat the Shadow Demon Beast, it definitely won’t be able to destroy it. As long as the Shadow Demon Beast isn’t destroyed, it will definitely tell the other demon beasts about the Lunar Scourge. The Lunar Scourge is something that the demon beasts have dreamed of obtaining for millennia. They strongly believe that if they can obtain the Lunar Scourge, they can revive their Demon Emperor, once again returning to power! This time, we’ve really met some bad luck.” Qi Yue’s voice held a solemnness that Ling Chen had never heard before. The one who should be panicking the most about the Lunar Scourge being exposed should be her. Before all the God and Saint Orbs were found, this was the situation she least wanted to encounter. What they were facing right now was equivalent to a terrifying nightmare for her.
“Try to stall for as much time as possible before Tao Tie gets here. I already told it that the Lunar Scourge has been discovered by the Shadow Demon Beast, so it should be here soon.” Qi Yue sighed. Even if Tao Tie could immediately arrive, it still wouldn’t be able to go back in time to prevent the Shadow Demon Beast finding out about the Lunar Scourge.
Stalling for time… perhaps, that was the last sliver of hope…
Ling Chen slowly raised his head, and looked at the dark cloud in the sky, and spluttered out three words, “Shadow… Demon… Beast!”
“Heheheheh…”
The frightening laughter paused for a second, then became even wilder, “HAHAHAHA! I never thought after hiding away for ten thousand years, you tiny little human would be able to call out my royal name. Turns out my name hasn’t be entirely forgotten, hahaha… that’s right, I’m one of the ten ancient demon beasts that serve the Demon Emperor. Being able to see me is the greatest glory in your entire life, hahahahaha, then, who are you?”
Ling Chen: “……”
“Heheheh, it doesn’t matter if you don’t want to say. I have no interest towards you. I’m just very glad that I didn’t destroy you as soon as you entered. Otherwise, I would have missed out on a very big opportunity. Heheh, human, since you know my glorious name, you should know that trying to retaliate or run away is completely pointless. I’ve already said that I have no interest towards you, and I can’t even be bothered attacking you. That’s the only reason you’re still alive. Now, be good and give me the Lunar Scourge. This way, I can spare you from dying and will send you safely out of here. Do you understand?”
The pressure from the Shadow Demon Beast made it harder and harder for Ling Chen to breath, and there was not a single inch of his body that was not covered in cold sweat. Indeed, what the Shadow Demon Beast was after was the Lunar Scourge. However, it was impossible for him to give the Shadow Demon Beast the Lunar Scourge. After all, it was as if it was part of his body- even he had no way of taking it off, and even if he was killed, there was no way for it to drop from his body.
However, there were a few things that the Shadow Demon Beast had said that were absolutely true. These were that it only wanted the Lunar Scourge, and was not interested towards Ling Chen at all. In order to obtain the Lunar Scourge, it probably wouldn’t immediately kill Ling Chen. Even the Dark Undead Moon God Representative from before had been stopped by it. This was because the Shadow Demon Beast believed that the drop rate for the Lunar Scourge dropping from Ling Chen was probably very small, and they would probably have to kill him more than ten times, which was much more troublesome than getting him to hand it over himself. Moreover, in order repeatedly kill him, it would have to go into human territory, which would arouse the attention of the Moon God Clan.
Ling Chen was sure that at least for now, he was safe. However, this didn’t mean he could relax, considering the consequences of the Lunar Scourge being exposed.
What should he do…
Seeing no reaction from Ling Chen, the Shadow Demon Beast’s voice became colder, “What, didn’t you understand what I was saying? Immediately give me the Lunar Scourge. That way, I’ll spare you from dying. Otherwise, I’ll let you experience the most painful death, and then turn you into a puppet, so that you won’t even be able to rest in peace!!”
The demon beasts all had vicious and cruel personalities, and did not have much patience either. The Shadow Demon Beast began to fiercely threaten Ling Chen. Ling Chen exhaled, and slowly said, “Shadow Demon Beast, although I truly want to give you the Lunar Scourge in exchange for my life this isn’t possible. Haven’t you heard that once the Lunar Scourge chooses a master, it would bond onto the master’s body, and cannot be taken off?” Ling Chen raised his right hand, which had the Lunar Scourge tightly attached to it, “Even I don’t have a way to take it off.”
Woosh…
In the deathly silence, a gust of cold wind started to blow, causing the dark cloud to move. Within the cold wind, a dark ray of light shot down and landed in front of Ling Chen, then condensed into a swirling dark fog.
“That’s the Shadow Demon Beast! The Shadow Demon Beast doesn’t have a fixed shape; it uses darkness energy to freely change its body’s shape. This dark fog is the Shadow Demon Beast.” Qi Yue Quickly explained.
The moment the Shadow Demon Beast in front of Ling Chen, a system announcement sounded out in his ears.
“Ding… you have investigated the origin of the mournful weeping. Having completed the core part of the “Moon God Ruins” Quest, you can now return to Azure Dragon City and report to the Azure Dragon’s Mayor, after which you will have completed the Moon God Ruins Quest.”
Ling Chen felt veins beginning to bulge out of his forehead. So the core part of the Moon God Ruins Quest was to find the Shadow Demon Beast! This was simply too outrageous. With the strength of players at the current stage of the game, no matter how many came, they would all die! Wasn’t this just a death trap!? No wonder the Quest Warning had things like:
“All who enter shall die.”
“If you would like to die, please accept this Quest.”
So those weren’t to just scare players, but rather the freaking truth!
However, regardless, being able to complete the Quest was a great comfort.
The swirling dark fog filled with the scent of death slowly drew near to him. The terrifying voice came out of the fog, “Heheheh, tiny human, you reminded me of something. You’re right; once the Lunar Scourge has chosen a master, no one is able to take it off from the master… unless the master is dead!!”
Ling Chen frowned, and his right hand clenched, his gaze turning cold.
“So, go die!!”
As the Shadow Demon Beast ferociously howled, the dark fog that was about ten metres away from Ling Chen began to expand, and a deathly aura began to surge towards Ling Chen from all around him. At this moment, Ling Chen stretched out his right hand, and a black light erupted from the Lunar Scourge.
“Moon… Shadow!!”
Although the darkness energy released by the Shadow Demon Beast was incredibly pure and powerful, it could never compare to that of the Lunar Scourge. Under the Moon Shadow, even the Shadow Demon Beast was frozen in place, unable to make even a sound.
In the five seconds, Ling Chen gritted his teeth and furiously ran towards the north.
In this world, there were still some things that Moon Shadow was not able to freeze in place. One of these things was creatures’ aura. Although the Shadow Demon Beast had been fixed in place, Ling Chen was still affected by its aura, and thus was still in its aggro range. In this sort of condition, Ling Chen was not able to use a teleport scroll. As for escaping the Shadow Demon Beast’s detection in merely five seconds, that was simply impossible.
“Qi Yue, do you have any other ideas!!”
While running, Ling Chen loudly shouted.
Qi Yue despondently sighed, “Right now, little master has no chance against the Shadow Demon Beast. Any method would not be able to make up for the difference in your power.”
The five seconds passed very quickly, and after the Shadow Demon Beast became unfrozen, it furiously shouted, “You actually want to resist against me, I’ll let you… experience the most painful torture before you die!”
Once again, death was right behind him. If the Shadow Demon Beast wanted to kill him, even if he was 1,000 metres away, it still would be incredibly easy for it to kill him. Ling Chen clenched his fists and gritted his teeth and looked back. His eyes widened saw the dark fog expand to ten or so metres in height.
Poof!!
Underneath his feet, he was suddenly tripped by something hard. Ling Chen, who was running at his full speed, did not have time to react, and fell to the ground. He quickly flipped his body over, and found that the gigantic swirling dark fog was already less than ten metres away from him.
He actually thought he could escape from the Shadow Demon Beast… he was too naïve… Ling Chen self-mockingly laughed. He took out the Soaring Cloud spear and Zephyr Blade and gripped them in his hands. It was impossible for him to defeat the Shadow Demon Beast, so he might as well at least hit it before he died.
“Tiny human, you actually wanted to try to escape from me, what a joke. Since I can obtain the Lunar Scourge after killing you… die!!”
The gigantic dark fog rolled towards Ling Chen like a massive wave.
Ling Chen raised his hands, and stared at the giant wave rolling towards him… since he was going to die, he might as well go down with a decent fight… however, just as he raised his hands, his eyes flickered- the light from the Lunar Scourge, which had been shining intensely this entire time, suddenly subsided and completely disappeared.
At the same time, the sky suddenly darkened, and in just a moment, all light had been swallowed by the darkness. Ling Chen could not see a single thing in front of him.
Ling Chen: (What’s going on? What just happened?)
As the darkness descended, Ling Chen found that his breathing had stopped, and even his heart felt like it had stopped beating.
The Shadow Demon Beast’s attack hadn’t landed on him, and Ling Chen felt that he was still alive. However, it seemed as if time had stopped for him. Though he still could not breath, his heart started beating again. He could clearly hear his heart thumping so loudly and violently that he was afraid that it might even burst.
Pressure… a sort of pressure that Ling Chen could not use words to describe covered the entire sky and land, completely overpowering the Shadow Demon Beast’s own aura and pressure. This sort of pressure was stronger than the Shadow Demon Beast’s by a thousand, if not ten thousand times… under this sort of pressure, Ling Chen felt that his body was being crushed. All light had been devoured, and the ground shook. Even space began to tremble, as if it was about to be torn.
“Who… Who is it… get… get out here…”
In the complete darkness, Ling Chen heard the Shadow Demon Beast’s voice. Its trembling voice was filled with fear… because in front of this overwhelming pressure, its own demonic aura was just like a grain of sand in the sea. This sort of power could destroy it in just a split second…
Ling Chen believed this sort of power could destroy the sky, no, even space itself.
“Qi Yue… what… is going on!!” Ling Chen shouted in his mind.
When he received Qi Yue’s reply, it almost sounded like a stranger’s voice. This was before in her voice, there was an unprecedented trembling and shaking, “In this world, there is only one person who can release this sort of pressure……”
Boom!!!
A streak of purple lightning descended from the sky and crashed in front of Ling Chen. When the lightning disappeared, Ling Chen discovered that in front of him, was a person. Although his stature was similar to Ling Chen’s, at first glance, he seemed like an incredibly tall and imposing mountain.
“….Shu…ra…!”